The objective compounds in the present invention, 2-haloacetylphenols (I) are important as intermediates in preparation of drugs, agricultural chemicals, perfumes, dyes, etc. A sufficient process for production thereof, however, has not been established. In the prior art, the Friedel-Crafts reaction of phenols (II) and the Fries rearrangement of haloacetoxybenzenes (III) have been utilized. These reactions, however, have the common disadvantage that the substitution occurs at both ortho and para position and moreover the para-substituted compounds (IV) are the main products. ##STR3##